Tips for Avoiding Misinformation In SEO Resources and Talks

There are many conflicting ideas about how best to approach SEO.

For every proposed idea, there are others in the SEO industry who disagree.

Going to Google for help isn’t always helpful because Google classifies information about SEO that Google users themselves say is incorrect.

There is a way to cut off noise and find out what information is likely to be valid and what information is smoke and mirrors.

Googlers Statements On SEO Information

What Googlers say about SEO is usually limited to four topics:

Googlers don’t offer gaps on how to influence rankings, of course. But the information they provide is useful and consistent.

For example, a Google cannot necessarily say that Google has a specific algorithm for hunting and killing guest posts for SEO links.

But they can advise that guest posting has been done for SEO and that publishers should put a fork in it.

By doing so, Google helps publishers avoid a possible penalty or spend money on a service that will not produce the desired results.

It makes sense to look for what the Googlers say. What Googlers say is literally the most authoritative statement about how Google works.

Why Google Has A Webmaster Outreach

The main reason there is a disclosure for webmasters is that former Googler Matt Cutts considers it valid to communicate with the search community to help them avoid mistakes and misinformation.

So he started communicating with publishers in various SEO forums under the nickname, GoogleGuy.

Here is a 2004 post where GoogleGuy introduced and explained the source of Google’s disclosure and its motivation:

“About three years ago, I was waiting for a program to finish compiling and I was reading what people online were saying about Google.

I remember seeing a question from a site owner about how to structure their site to crawl it better, and I thought it would be great if a Google could go over and answer technical questions like this.

And then I thought, I’m a Google engineer. I can answer technical questions like this. So I did.

Since then, I’ve managed to post about 2,000 posts on various web forums, clearing the record whenever possible. “

Are Googlers Inconsistent?

It’s common to hear people complain that Google is contradictory. If this is true, how can you trust what Googlers say is not wrong SEO information?

But the reason for the contradictions is not usually the fault of Google. It is the fault of the person who constantly writes about what Google has said.

In my experience of listening to Google Office Hours Hangouts for several years, Googlers are very consistent with what they say, even when you go back ten years or more to previous statements, what they advise is consistent and not contradictory.

Paying attention to what Googlers say has always been a good practice. And if what a post reports seems to contradict a previous statement, listen to the statement itself.

For example, there are some sites that post about ranking factors based on what a former Google says in a video.

But when you listen to the video, the former Googler never said what people say he said.

However, the misconception about a false rating factor continues to proliferate on the Internet because no one stops to listen to the video.

Don’t take for granted what someone writes.

Always check out the video, blog post, or podcast for yourself.

Google Search Engine Is A Source Of  SEO Misinformation?

While Google is a reliable source of SEO information, Google may be an unreliable source of SEO information.

Here’s an example of Google’s John Mueller denying LSI keywords in a tweet:

Twitter screenshot, May 2022

Searching Google for SEO information results in inconsistent search results.

In general, the best search results on SEO topics tend to be quite reliable nowadays.

Google often shows search results that promote risky strategies if you search for risky strategies (such as link wheels or PBN links).

Sometimes it can be more helpful to find an SEO forum or Facebook group and ask for information about SEO from a real person (rather than an algorithm).

Should You Ignore What Googlers Say?

Googlers are on the other side of the search engine and publishers / SEOs are on the other side. We both experience the search differently.

So it makes sense that there are differences of opinion on some issues, especially on what is fair and what is relevant.

However, there are some areas of the Internet where it is commonly considered best not to listen to what Googlers say.

Some are constantly advising others to do the exact opposite of what Googlers say.

Others seem to resent it and constantly offer negative opinions on the subject of Google.

Below is news about Google’s AI researchers who were fired after raising ethical concerns.

Should Google Be Believed?

It is useful to focus on the Googlers that are related to the search marketing community.

Googlers like Gary Illyes and John Mueller have a long history of sharing high quality information with the search marketing community.

A record of all the information they shared can be found on YouTube, Twitter, and Google Blog Posts.

When John Mueller is unsure of the answer to a question, he says so. When he is sure, his answer is unequivocal.

Danny Sullivan used to be a search marketing journalist before joining Google.

He is by our side, and also has a strong track record of answering questions, conveying concerns, and responding to the concerns of the search community, such as posting an article on updates to the basic algorithm in response to questions about what they are and how publishers should treat them.

In general, be wary of anyone who constantly advises people to ignore what Google is saying.

Discern Between Opinion And Fact-Based Insight

It is important to check whether the writer quotes and links to an authorized source or simply offers an opinion.

When someone writes about Google and then links to supporting evidence, such as a Google statement, patent, or research paper, their statement becomes better than an opinion because it’s now a fact-based view with evidence support.

Maybe what they write isn’t true about Google yet, but at least there is supporting evidence that could be true.

Unless a Google says something is true, we can’t really tell.

So the best thing anyone can do is point to a Google statement, research paper, or patent as supporting evidence that something might be true.

For centuries, common sense dictated that the earth was at the center of the universe. Common sense does not replace evidence and data.

Opinions without supporting evidence, no matter how “meaningful” they are, are unreliable.

Googler Statements Must Be In Context

Some people have diaries. When that happens, they often cite Google’s out-of-context statements to drive their agendas.

The typical agenda is to sow fear and uncertainty in order to create more business.

It’s not uncommon for search marketers to say that Googlers contradict each other.

I find the Googlers very consistent, especially John Mueller.

What is inconsistent is how some people interpret what he says.

John Mueller of Google lamented in a podcast that “two-thirds of what is said is misquoted or out of context.”

Correlation Studies Are Not Reliable

Articles that include correlation data tend to get a lot of attention, which makes them useful for clickbait.

Data obtained from the study of any number of search results, even millions of search results, will always show patterns.

But patterns don’t make sense because … correlation doesn’t involve causation.

Correlation studies often examine one or a handful of factors in isolation, ignoring all the other more than 200 ranking factors that influence search ranking.

Correlation studies also tend to ignore unclassified factors that influence search results, such as:

The above are just factors that can hinder any attempt to correlate what is ranked in search results with a given quality of a web page.

If you want to avoid SEO misinformation, consider avoiding most, if not all, correlation-based SEO research.

Can You Trust What’s In A Patent?

The problem with patent articles is that some people don’t know how to interpret them, and this can lead to misleading SEO.

The way a patent can cause misinformation is that the person making claims about it uses only one section of a patent, in isolation, taken out of the context of the rest of the patent.

If you read an article about a patent and the author does not talk about the context of the whole patent and uses only one passage of the patent, it is very likely that the conclusions drawn from the patent are misinformed.

A patent or research paper should always be discussed in the context of the entire patent.

It is a common mistake to extract a section from the patent and draw conclusions from that section out of context.

SEO Misinformation

It can be difficult to discern between good SEO information, outright lies and pure misinformation.

Some erroneous information occurs because the information was not reviewed and ended up spreading over the Internet.

Misinformation happens because some people rely too much on common sense (which is unreliable).

Ultimately, we can’t know for sure what’s in Google’s algorithm.

The best we can do is understand that SEO information has levels of validity, starting at the top with Google posts that offer confirmation of what’s on Google’s algorithm, followed by statements from Google. This is reliable information.

After that, we enter a kind of gray area with patents and search papers that Google does not confirm whether they are being used or not.

The least reliable level of information is based on correlation studies and pure opinions.

When I have doubts, what I do is look for a check on the reality of people I trust.

Featured image: Shift Drive / Shutterstock